The activity is in celebration of Lung Cancer Awareness Month this November. The City of Manila Health Department is excited and thankful that the ceremonial unveiling of no smoking signage took place in the city to bring back to life the executive order the City of Manila created on the anti-smoking campaign before the COVID-19 pandemic.
City of Manila Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control Medical Coordinator Dr. Lynette Gemperle stated, “This is a fresh start for us na magkaroon ng bagong lakas, panibagong interes to relaunch this program.”
In the Philippines, there were about 16 million smokers as of 2015. Cigarette is the tobacco product of choice among Filipinos. Annually, 110,000 Filipinos die from diseases linked to tobacco use, with tobacco and tobacco smoke accounting for 18.6% of deaths and tobacco itself for 16.6%.
Dr. Gloria Balboa, Director IV of Metro Manila Center for Health and Development (MMCHD), reminded everyone that Lung Cancer Awareness Month is just a month when the information campaign is intensified. Still, we have to make every day a Lung Cancer Awareness Day.
Dr. Balboa added, “it is an opportunity to educate people about the harmful effects of smoking which is connected to lung cancer, and how it can be prevented.” (PIA-NCR)
